Coupon ejector



United States Patent Office 3,156,386 Patented Nov. 10, 1964 3,156,380 COUPON EIECTUR Alfred I. Kuechenmeister, 6010 Lake Shore Road, Manistee, Mich. Filed July 27, 1962, Ser. No. 212,966 6 Claims. (Cl. 222-41) This invention concerns dispensing containers, and more particularly a dispensing container provided with means by which a coupon `or premium may be ejected from the container when and only when a predetermined portion of the contents of the container have been emptied therefrom.

In merchandising granular materials which for one reason or another cannot be packed in transparent containers, it is desirable to provide an indication to the user when his supply of material in the container is substantially exhausted. The present invention is intended to achieve this result in a manner which commands the attention of the user by ejecting from the container a small capsule containing a premium or coupon when a certain minimum level of material in the container has been reached.

The present invention accomplishes this result by providing at the bottom of the container a weight member or ring which rests on the surface of the granular material when the container is inverted for dispensin 7 purposes. As the material is gradually discharged from the container, the weight member falls farther and farther toward the discharge end of the container with each inversion, until it finally falls far enough to actuate a release mechanism located near the discharge end of the container which causes the premium bearing capsule to be ejected.

It is therefore the object of this invention to provide an ejection device for ejecting a cartridge from a container of granular material when the level of said granular material falls below a predetermined point.

It is a further object of this invention to accomplish the aforesaid result by the gravitational action on a release mechanism of a weight member resting on the surface of the granular material contained in the container when the container is inverted.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FlG. l is a perspective, partially cut-away drawing of one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section of another embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a detail view of the lock and trip mechanisms of the device of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a detail View of another type of trip and lock mechanism.

Basically, the invention consists of providing the container with a spring loaded coupon cartridge slideably mounted in a tube inside the container and held in that tube against the bias of the ejecting spring by a locking mechanism which can be released by the action of a weight ring falling onto a trip mechanism arranged to disable the locking mechanism.

Referring now to FIG. l, the container of this invention is shown consisting of a cylindrical side wail 12, a lower end wall 14 and an upper end wall 16. A cartridge tube 1S is held coaxially with the container 1t) between the ends 14 and 16 and contains' a spring 20 and a cartridge 22. One end of the cartridge tube opens through the upper end wall 16. It is surrounded by `a number of discharge openings 34, through which the granular material may pass. The cartridge 22 has an indentation in its side into which a ball 26 is pressed by an annular spring 28. This springhas an extension in the form of an arm 3i) which extends radially of the container. At a point near the extending arm 30 the annular spring 28 is formed into a generally rounded loop, or eyelet, having a diameter somewhat smaller than that of the ball 26. The spring 28 thus cradles the ball 26 by partially engirdling the same, thereby trapping it against the indentation in the side of the cartridge 22 and preventing its escape from this position until the spring is deflected suiciently to relieve part of the spring pressure holding the ball in place, thereby allowing it to be released. A weight ring 32 is placed in the bottom of the container, and when the container is inverted, this weight ring rests on the top surface of the granular material which the container is designed to contain. The discharge openings 34 may be covered during shipment of the container by a removable tab 36.

A modification of the locking mechanism is illustrated in FIG. 2, which also shows more clearly the preferred method of assembling the device. Cartridge tube 18, closed at bottom by the end piece 18a, is attached to top 16 at the open end of the said tube. Spring 20 is inserted into open end of cartridge tube 18. Cartridge 22, having been previously loaded with coupon, is then pushed down onto spring 2t) until cartridge 22 is flush with top surface 16. This effects compression ofthe spring 20. The locking mechanism is then attached to cartridge tube 18 by means of a band 46. Cartridge 22 is locked in place by arm 42 pivoting on pivot 44 until pin 46 in tab 48 penetrates cartridge 22 and holds it in place. The top 16 is now attached to the side wall 12 by crimping or gluing and tab 36 is pasted over the pouring openings 34 and the opening in the top 16 communicating with the open end of cartridge tube 18. It should be noted that the top 16 and the cartridge tube 18 may be fabricated as a single element as by molding. The container is now inverted for filling with granular material. The Weight member 32 is placed on top of granular material and the bottom 14 is joined to the side wall 12 by crimping or gluing to close the container. The container is now ready for operation.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show two alternative illustrative ways of locking the cartridge 22 in the cartridge tube 18. PIG. 3 is an enlargement of the mechanism of FIG. 2. It will be seen that in the operation of the container, if the container is inverted and sufiicient material has been discharged to allow the weight ring 32 (FIG. 2) to contact the surface 50 of arm 42, arm 42 will pivot counterclockwise about pivot 44, thus pulling pin 46 out of the cartridge 22 and allowing the cartridge 22 to be ejected under the action of spring 2t).

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the wedge 52 on the left side of the arm 54 compresses the outer wall of the tube to pinch it against the cartridge locking the cartridge in place. In this embodiment also, when weight ring 32 (FIG. 2) contacts surface 56 of arm 54 while the container is inverted, it will cause arm 54 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction about pivot 58, releasing the pinching action. This allows the cartridge 22 to be ejected under the action of spring 20.

Operation In each of the embodiments shown, the operation of the device is alike and consists of first removing the tab 36 to free the discharge openings 34. The container is then used in a conventional manner to discharge the granular material contained therein through the openings 34. As the amount of material in the container 10 diminishes, the weight ring 32 will be able to fall closer and closer to the discharge end each time the container is inverted, since it rests on the surface of the material in the container. Eventually, enough material will have been discharged from the container that on the next in- 3 version, the weight ring 32 will strike the arm 30, 42, or 54 of the tripping device, and the locking mechanism will thereby be released in the manner previously described, thereby permitting the ejection of the cartridge 22 from the tube 18 and the opening in the top 16 communicatingy therewith, under the action of spring 20.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a foolproof, attention getting Warning device to show that the material in the container is almost exhausted, while at the same time providing the customer, for example, with a coupon which may be applied toward the purchase or another container of the same goods, at a time when such a coupon is useful and not before. Obviously, the concepts of this invention can be carried out in many different ways, of which the embodiments shown are merely illustrative. Consequently, I do not desire to be limited by the embodiments shown in the drawing or described in the specification, but only by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A coupon-ejecting and granular material dispensing package, comprising: a container having an aperture at one end through which the material is discharged when the container is inverted; a cartridge within said container; biasing means for biasing said cartridge outwardly of said container; releasable lock means for preventing outward movement of said cartridge; weight means resting on the material contained in said container when said container is in a position to discharge said material therefrom; and means associated with said lock means for engaging said weight means and releasing said lock means when said weight means reaches a predetermined position in said container.

2. A coupon-ejecting and granular material dispensing package, comprising: a container for the granular material having an aperture at one end through which the material is discharged when the container is inverted; a cartridge chamber within said container; an ejectable cartridge within said cartridge chamber; spring means for biasing said cartridge outwardly of said container; releasable lock means for preventing outward movement of said cartridge; weight means resting on said material when said container is inverted; and trip means in said container associated with said lock means; said trip means being arranged to release said lock means upon being struck by said weight means when a suilcient quantity of material has been discharged to allow said weight means to strike said trip means.

3. A coupon-ejecting and granular material dispensing package, comprising: a container for the granular material having an aperture at one end through which the material is discharged when the container is inverted; a cartridge tube in said container and fixed thereto; an ejectable cartridge in said tube; spring means in said tube for biasing said cartridge outwardly of said tube; lock means releasably interconnecting said tube and said cartridge to prevent ejection of said cartridge; trip means in said container for releasing said lock means when tripped; and a freely movable weight ring surrounding said tube and resting on said material when said container is inverted, said weight ring being arranged to strike said trip means and trip the same when said container is inverted and sulicient material has been discharged therefrom to bring the level of said material below the level of said trip means.

4. The device of claim 3, in which said lock means comprises a ball held in engagement with said cartridge by an annular spring; and said trip means comprises an arm arranged to disengage said annular spring from said ball when struck by said weight ring.

5. The device of claim 3, in which said lock means comprises a pivotally mounted member engaging said cartridge, and said trip means comprises an arm fixed to said pivotally mounted member and extending into the path of said weight ring to pivotally disengage said member from said cartridge under the action of said weight ring.

6. The device of claim 5 in which the portion of said pivotally mounted member engaging said cartridge is a pointed element passing through the wall of said cartridge tube and having its point embedded in the side of Vsaid cartridge.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 822,638 Vester June 5, 1906 1,640,285 Mortlra Aug. 23, 1927 1,935,134 Swan Nov. 14, 1933 2,151,634 Casella Mar. 28, 1939 2,284,218 Livingstone May 26, 1942 

1. A COUPON-EJECTING AND GRANULAR MATERIAL DISPENSING PACKAGE, COMPRISING: A CONTAINER HAVING AN APERTURE AT ONE END THROUGH WHICH THE MATERIAL IS DISCHARGED WHEN THE CONTAINER IS INVERTED; A CARTRIDGE WITHIN SAID CONTAINER; BIASING MEANS FOR BIASING SAID CARTRIDGE OUTWARDLY OF SAID CONTAINER; RELEASABLE LOCK MEANS FOR PREVENTING OUTWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID CARTRIDGE; WEIGHT MEANS RESTING ON THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN SAID CONTAINER WHEN SAID CONTAINER IS IN A POSITION TO DISCHARGE SAID MATERIAL THEREFROM; AND MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID LOCK MEANS FOR ENGAGING SAID WEIGHT MEANS AND RELEASING SAID LOCK MEANS WHEN SAID WEIGHT MEANS REACHES A PREDETERMINED POSITION IN SAID CONTAINER. 